


it's a quarter past midnight

by criacuervos



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemons, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Title From a Bastille Song, i attempt to write a character smarter than me, late night introvert bonding, of course my first addition to this fandom is a daemon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21838474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criacuervos/pseuds/criacuervos
Summary: Pidge is awake late, or... is it late? Time doesn't really exist in outer space.[ “Voice recognition,” Pidge said out loud, hands full of wires from Coran’s station on the bridge. “Time.”Nothing happened.“Still only answers to the princess,” said Bluma, Pidge’s dæmon, from their place as a jewel beetle on her hand. The closer they were to the problem at hand — literally in this case — the better, or that is what they always said. ]
Relationships: Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	it's a quarter past midnight

There was something called the Twins Paradox: imagine a set of identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns to Earth to find their twin who remained has aged more. Debunked, sure, Pidge knew this. Her father debunked it for her when she read it on her textbook and came home begging he never take another space exploration mission again. It still remained, that fear. _What if?_ What if Matt and her dad had already died of old age? What if, when she came home ( _if_ she came home), her mother was already dead?

Earth hours were useless without the sun. Floating in empty space inside an alien spaceship time had to be invented, because time didn't matter. It was nighttime when the lights said it was nighttime. It was daytime when Allura decided they had all slept enough.

Pidge checked the clock on her laptop again. It was the night cycle in the Castle of Lions, but it was 3:44pm on Arizona. She used this fact as her own excuse to be up, though by now the inner clock excuse had lost all validation. Two months, it shouldn’t take that long to get used to the night and day cycles particular only of the Castle, even if they were sporadic at best. Resting came second to being saviours of the universe, so the night cycle was squeezed whenever there was time.

Time.

“Voice recognition,” Pidge said out loud, hands full of wires from Coran’s station on the bridge. “Time.”

Nothing happened.

“Still only answers to the princess,” said Bluma, Pidge’s dæmon, from their place as a jewel beetle on her hand. The closer they were to the problem at hand — literally in this case — the better, or that is what they always said. Pidge already tried doing this from her station, but it wasn’t as intricately connected to the Castle’s mainframe as Coran’s. Allura’s station could only be accessed by the princess herself, so there wasn’t much Pidge could do there.

It should have been easy, adding voice recognition and asking the Castle of Lions to please tell her the time (despite being able to see it on her computer). But hacking alien technology wasn’t like hacking Earth technology, for obvious reasons. It was like learning coding and wiring from scratch, which already took Pidge her fair share of years to (almost completely) master.

Pidge put the wires on her lap.

Why was she doing this, anyways? The voice recognition would be useful, but she was more fixated on making the Castle tell her the time. To be linked to Earth’s night and day cycles instead of inventing its own. Reassurance, that they were living at the same time they were on Earth.

“Do you think it’ll be accurate?” Pidge asked Bluma. “Is the laptop even still accurate anymore?”

Bluma fluttered their beetle wings without taking off. “I don’t know.”

It was hard to admit not knowing.

“Voice recognition,” Pidge said again. “Time.”

Bluma did it again, fluttering their wings, but this time Pidge felt their change of purpose. She looked over her shoulder and first she saw Agnimitra and then she saw Keith. Standing there otherwise stoic if it weren’t for the slight wag of his dæmons’ tail — asutralian shepherd as per usual.

“Creep,” Pidge said and Bluma buzzed around her head once before dropping to the floor and changing back to her usual form: a chinchilla. “Why are you watching me?”

“What are you doing?” Keith asked instead of answering.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Pidge said instead of answering.

“Me neither,” Keith said like if that answered her previous question.

He walked to catch up with Agnimitra, who had crossed the bridge to touch noses with Bluma like she often did as greeting. For the dæmon of such a reclusive person, Agnimitra took a surprising initiative with contact. (Pidge wondered if this had something to do with Keith being touch starved, just a theory). Keith had no other option than to just… stand there as Agnimitra lay down just outside of the circle of junk Pidge had formed around herself.

“So.” Pidge grabbed a wire clipper and cut one that was colour yellow. “You’re just gonna stand there?”

“Do I have much of a choice?” This, Keith said it while looking at Agnimitra. His dæmon didn’t acknowledge him in any way.

“You could sit down. Own your creepiness and watch me properly.”

“It was Mitra’s idea.”

“What are you, ten? This isn’t the fourth grade, Keith. We own our decision to be creepy stalkers.”

“She wanted to see what you were doing.”

Now, Agnimitra did react. She lifted her bright blue eyes to look at Keith, raised her floppy ears as much as they could, and she spoke (which was odd for her, Agnimitra barely ever spoke): “ _We_ wanted to see what you were doing.”

Bluma giggled.

Coran’s station sparked a little when Pidge connected the yellow wire. “Now that you’ve confessed sit down, Keith. Everything outside my designated radius is free for all.”

Agnimitra put her head on her paws, so Keith had no other option but to sit down. He huffed as if it were a nuisance for him, but paired with the ease of his dæmon lost some of its validation and made him seem dramatic. Like a performance. Bluma tussled their whiskers. Pidge smiled, well, smirked. A grin proper of a younger sibling who got its way.

“So, what are you doing?” Agnimitra asked.

Pidge let Bluma respond.

“We are trying to install a voice recognition for all of us, not just Allura and Coran.”

“Why?” Keith asked.

“I want to ask the Castle the time,” said Pidge.

Keith creased his eyebrows and cocked his head, the expression not unlike one Agnimitra might make. “The time?”

Pidge nodded.

“Can’t you just check your laptop for that?”

“I don’t know if the laptop is accurate anymore.”

“And the Castle will be?”

Good question. Pidge shrugged, playing off her uncertainty but the full-body shudder from Bluma wasn’t lost to Agnimitra. Dæmons usually saw more than humans did, Allura said they were quintessence-hyperaware.

“It just won’t leave me alone,” Pidge said, hands occupied with untangling wires she had tangled herself moving them around. “How many days have passed since we left? How many _months_? Has it been a year already? Did we miss our birthdays? My laptop says it’s been two Earth months, but I don’t know how accurate that is anymore. We’ve been using wormholes so much. Sure, the Castle has a night cycle and a day cycle but that is at the mercy of Allura and how busy we are. What do you think?”

“I think you should ask Hunk that.”

“Hunk isn’t available right now, he isn’t an insomniac unlike _some people._ ”

“Such as yourself.”

“Such as _us_.”

Keith scoffed, Agnimitra wagged her tail, there was the small quirk of a smile on his face. He leaned arms on his knees, leaning forward as if to look at the screen of the computer. Pidge made no movement to make it easier for him to see. He wouldn’t be able to understand the matrix of code that scrolled up and down, one side of the screen was in Altean and the other in English.

They go back to being silent. That, at least, had always been easy between them. A quiet understanding of when to let a conversation die and not spring a new one, they both always did have a distaste for small talk.

Putting the computer aside again (there wasn’t much she could do until it was all translated), Pidge continued untangling wires and tinkering with loose pieces. She did it mostly in an attempt not to let her mind wander, it kept trying to circle back to the Twins Paradox and the possibilities.

4:01pm in Arizona, according to her laptop.

There was an ever-present discomfort that wouldn’t leave her limbs and pressed between her ears, the discomfort of knowing she wouldn’t be going back home any day in the near future by the look of things. In two months, Pidge had acclimated to the Castle of Lions and was still set on finding her father and Matt… but at least when she had been in the Garrison that was Earth and it was familiar. The Castle of Lions was so massive she and Lance still hadn’t explored all of it, they couldn’t read any text, the food wasn’t right, the beds weren’t right, even the oxygen wasn’t right.

A warm weight appeared on her shoulders. Pidge raised a hand and petted Bluma, who turned into a cat. They were a literal grounding weight that gave Pidge pause on her spiralling thoughts.

Keith was looking at her like he didn’t know what to do. What had her face looked like for him to notice as well? Bluma, sure, they were her dæmon. Agnimitra must have smelled the unease on Bluma.

“You okay?” asked Keith, almost spitting the question like if that were the only way to get it out. No knack for interpersonal feelings, Pidge could also relate to that.

(Maybe they had more than a couple things in common. Count so far: 3)

“Do you think because Alteans have more dæmons and ergo more quintessence that is why they are able to be further from their person? Wait, should we call Alteans people or aliens? Is _people_ just for humans or also for non-humans?”

Keith looked ever more lost. Even Agnimitra seemed confused now.

Bluma gave Pidge’s ear a gentle bite, but didn’t really try to get her to talk about the thoughts that were really plaguing her. Bluma had always been something of an external manifestation of the gentleness Pidge herself barely ever exhibited but they weren’t any less closed-off than her after a year undercover in the Garrison. Sometimes they still build up that wall between themselves — Katie Holt and Bluma — and Pidge Gunderson and Urania.

When Keith didn’t bother to answer, Pidge went back to the wires and the laptop. No changes on the latter, so she focused on the former and connected what she had disconnected inside Coran’s station.

The quiet returned but this time it wasn’t as companionable.

Pidge turned almost all the way away from Keith. She trimmed wires and put them back. Assembled things with the scrap pieces on the junk around her. Her hands moved mechanically and at some point Bluma’s weight left her neck, and she knew by a matter of fact that they were fluttering around her like a bird. Pidge yawned. Bluma did that to wake her up. She was falling asleep? She didn’t feel tired. She looked up only when her neck and back really began to hurt due to her hunched position.

It was 4:32pm in Arizona now.

Keith had propped an elbow on his knee, cheek resting on his hand. Agnimitra put her snout on the other knee. She had her eyes closed, his were open and focused on Pidge’s hands as she worked.

“Coran and I are almost finished with the adjustments to the dæmon-armour.”

Pidge really much preferred the quiet but this quiet felt awkward and she could really do with something to distract herself.

Keith lifted his eyes to her face. She’d always wondered if they were a weird tone of blue or if they were just purple. Asking him felt too bold and like admitting she spent way too much time looking at his face. Not that it was her fault! (Though, really, it was). They were meant to work hand-in-hand the way Hunk and Lance worked… leg-in-leg? The first order of business once they officially became Voltron was to perfectly oil their teamwork machine. Pidge had to work in sync with Keith. Hunk had to work in sync with Lance. Shiro had to work in sync with all of them. Pidge didn’t like how the more-than-physical-more-than-emotional bond between the Lions seemed to follow them even out of the cockpits. It was like sharing a telepathic link with everyone. Pidge didn’t appreciate anyone rummaging inside her brain. Though, she might scare everyone off with the way she thought of fifty-or-so things at the same time. That must be a bunch of noise for any outsider.

“It’s Cascada who is giving us a hard time,” Pidge continued, when Keith’s eyes on her silently prompted her.

That was Lance’s dæmon. Her favoured form was a parakeet and fitting armour to her petite body that also included _wings_ had been a nightmare. Because previous Paladins had also had physical dæmons as they and the Alteans did there was plenty to work with, but the possible adjustment to new forms didn’t seem to have been taken into consideration by past Paladins. So, the newly fitted armour dæmons (not unlike the humans wore) wore was made completely in that platinum-esque material with no coloured accents — at least for now. If they were going to be Paladins a while, Pidge might just add the coloured accents. Because Shiro was the only settled Paladin, Yuriko’s armour had taken precedence while Pidge and the others had made do with having their dæmons as tiny insects inside their helmets.

“All of Lance is made to give everyone a hard time,” said Keith.

Pidge smiled. “I just hope Cascada doesn’t end up settling as something else or I might make Lance adjust the armour himself.”

Keith smiled. Pidge’s shoulders relaxed.

"Agnimitra's armour is actually all done but Coran and I didn't want to tell anyone until they were all ready for a grand reveal — which was _Coran's_ idea, by the way. But if you want I can show you tomorrow and Agnimitra can try it on to see if we have to may any adjustments. We're gonna need everyone to put them on to fit the helmets and make sure they work exactly like ours." Bluma was still fluttering above her. Pidge fought another yawn. "You're completely sure on the australian shepherd form, right?"

"Yeah," said Keith, hand on his dæmon's head. "Mitra is sure. But if anything changes, I'll adjust the armour myself."

Pidge laughed but it was a weird mixture between a snort and a huff.

It was 4:39pm in Arizona.

Pidge looked up at Bluma, watched them turn back into a chinchilla and find a comfortable place among Agnimitra’s front legs. The comfort it brought her as a result made Pidge sit straighter. The words _It_ _’s about my family_ , were stuck in her throat. The answer to Keith’s question about her wellbeing. _It_ _’s about my family and how there’s the sliver of possibility they’ll all be dead before I find them._ Her dad and Matt could die at the hands of the Galra. Her mother and all of Earth might be wiped out by the time they returned to the planet because the Twins Paradox said it was a possibility. _What if we come back and it_ _’s been 500 years since we left?_ Usually, she would be locked up in her room talking it out and debunking it with Bluma. They’d been at it since the night (cycle) Pidge’s brain happily reminded her of that theory and now she couldn’t get it out of her head.

When Pidge felt her teeth bite raw skin inside her mouth, she flinched and realised she was getting really antsy the more she let the thoughts do rounds inside her brain.

Keith sat straight now. Agnimitra had moved her snout away from him in exchange to nuzzling Bluma with her nose.

Pidge knew immediately — or felt it, really — that this was Keith’s way of comforting her. Neither of them had ever been good with words, and there were no actions as true as those coming from one’s dæmon. Both she and Keith were still in the adjustment phase of all things considered: teamwork, friendship, roommates now that they were all cooped up in the same place no matter how massive it was. The initial hostilities when she tried to leave had been switched up for some real _companionship._ They were _friends_. Pidge would even admit to enjoying hanging out with Keith more than anyone else, an introvert alliance. She didn’t need to tell Keith anything, he offered comfort and that was the end of it. Pidge might have enough resolve in her one day to really talk about it all. Maybe in the middle of a mandatory spar between the Arms of Voltron to sharpen their team battle skills. Talking her heart out while trying to knock Keith off his feet sounded like a good plan.

“I miss home,” was all Pidge offered. She left it at _home_ because the semantics of that word were vast and could mean Earth as much as they could mean her family together.

A talk about _feelings_ wasn’t Keith’s expertise so he looked awkward for a moment.

Pidge didn’t let it linger. She smiled a little, pushing the big round glasses up her nose. She tried to finish up on the wiring. Coran would have a fit if his station was cranked open and with its guts spilt on the floor when the day cycle started.

It took about a minute or two for Pidge to really start nodding off. No more yawning, just her chin falling against her chest and the wire-clipper slipping from her hands. Bluma was already dozing, still between Agnimitra’s front legs. Agnimitra carefully rested her head on top of them.

* * *

“Pidge?” said Keith. “I think you should head to bed.”

She leaned back against Coran's station, wires still pooling on her lap. Her mouth was ajar from the awkward position. It didn't look comfortable for either her neck or back. Bluma was sound asleep now.

Agnimitra wasn't too far behind and Keith yawned himself.

This was almost formal procedure now: picking up Pidge and carrying her to bed. When Keith pushed himself up, Agnimitra sprung her head up and shook herself in an attempt of waking up. Keith was very careful when stepping over the ring of spare parts and tools and junk that Pidge had formed around herself like a barrier. He was extra careful with moving the wires from her lap and to the floor. Coran could put them back in place, or Hunk, or they could both wait until Pidge woke up tomorrow.

He took a moment to map out how he was going to pick her up without jostling her and waking her up.

"You're not going to wake her up," said Agnimitra, gesturing to the chinchilla-dæmon between her front legs. "They are out like a light, the both of them."

Keith hummed. One arm behind Pidge's shoulders, one underneath her knees and _lift._ It always took him by surprise how easy it was to pick her up and always used more strength than was necessary. Pidge was _tiny_ and didn't weigh more than she had in height.

Agnimitra was on her feet, Bluma carefully held between her jaws. Keith knelled to let her put the dæmon on Pidge's stomach. Out of instinct, Bluma curled up against Pidge.

The doors of the bridge closed behind them with a soft _swoosh._

Down the hall, halfway to Pidge's room, Keith crossed paths with Shiro who was most likely on his way back from the toilet. Yuriko leaned her massive body against him so he didn't stumble in his still mostly-asleep state. Keith nodded. Shiro smiled at the sight of the sleeping Pidge and then nodded back to Keith. Nothing was said about Pidge. This was formal procedure. Everyone knew that if you found the Green Paladin sleeping — or if she just happened to fall asleep, like had just happened — you took her to bed.

"I hope you are going to bed too," said Shiro.

"Yeah, yeah. You're sleepwalking."

"Really, Keith. Bed."

" _Yeah._ "

"And make sure you take off Pidge's glasses and shoes this time."

"I know what I'm doing, Shiro."

"Goodnight."

Yuriko rumbled a gentle growl, since tigers couldn't purr.

"Goodnight."

Agnimitra wagged her tail.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested, here's everyone's dæmons  
> \- Shiro: Yuriko (she/her), white tigress  
> \- Keith: Agnimitra (she/her), australian shepherd  
> \- Lance: Cascada (she/her), parakeet  
> \- Hunk: Edom (he/him), black bear  
> \- Pidge: Bluma (they/them), chinchilla  
> \- Allura: the Space Mice (various pronouns)  
> \- Coran: Space Snakes (various pronouns)


End file.
